Grupo Energía Bogotá Raises $400 Billion COP as Investors Bid Five Times the Offer

GEB’s first issuance since 2022 opens a $2.5 trillion COP program

Grupo Energía Bogotá (BVC: GEB) raised $400 billion COP (about $126 million USD) in commercial paper on October 15, closing its first issuance in Colombia’s capital markets since 2022 and drawing orders of roughly $1.34 trillion COP (about $422 million USD) — some 5.35 times the amount it initially put on offer.

The notes, papeles comerciales de deuda pública interna (internal public-debt commercial paper), were sold through a Dutch auction on the main market of the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (Colombian Stock Exchange) and registered on the country’s Registro Nacional de Valores y Emisores (National Registry of Securities and Issuers), which is administered by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (Financial Superintendency). GEB opened the sale at $250 billion COP and exercised an over-allotment option of $150 billion COP to reach the $400 billion COP maximum.

The paper was placed in two series. GEB sold $110 billion COP at 180 days, priced at a 12.90% effective annual rate, and $290 billion COP at 364 days at 13.19%. Each note carried a nominal value of $1 million COP, which also set the minimum trade size, and the issue was open to investors generally. Fitch Ratings assigned the paper a national short-term rating of F1+(col), its highest grade on that scale. Cibest Capital led the placement.

“A country needs companies that invest, but it also needs a capital market capable of supporting its growth.” — Juan Ricardo Ortega, president, Grupo Energía Bogotá

GEB said it would use the proceeds for general corporate purposes and to strengthen its financial flexibility, and that the money could be held in low-risk, liquid instruments until it is deployed. The company’s president, Juan Ricardo Ortega, said the outcome reflected “the confidence we have built.” “A country needs companies that invest, but it also needs a capital market capable of supporting its growth,” Ortega added. He spoke in Spanish; the translations are the author’s.

The transaction was the first issuance under GEB’s Programa de Emisión y Colocación de Bonos de Deuda Pública Interna y Papeles Comerciales de Deuda Pública Interna (Program for the Issuance and Placement of Internal Public-Debt Bonds and Commercial Paper), authorized for up to $2.5 trillion COP (around $789 million USD). With the first tranche placed, about $2.1 trillion COP of capacity remains. The sale returns GEB to the local debt market after roughly four years away.

Holland & Knight advised GEB on the offering. The firm’s work was led by partner Camilo Gantiva Hidalgo (above left), with support from senior counsel Juan Felipe Fontecha Mejía (above, right). Holland & Knight also advised GEB on establishing the program in 2025.

Grupo Energía Bogotá is a holding company that operates, develops and invests in energy infrastructure in Colombia, Peru, Guatemala and Brazil, with businesses spanning electricity transmission, power generation and distribution, and natural-gas transport and distribution. Its controlling shareholder is the District of Bogotá, which holds about 65.68% of the company through the city government. GEB has traded on the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia since 2008.

Headline photo courtesy of Holland & Knight